Compilation film revealing the story of the
Panama Canal construction, which TR considered one of his most valuable
contributions to foreign affairs. Most prominent views are of the need for
building the canal, the early attempts, the actual construction, and finally the
canal in operation. Sequences of stills, mostly maps, showing the need for a
shorter way from ocean to ocean; views of the early attempts by Ferdinand de
Lesseps; USS Oregon which had to sail around South America from the Pacific to
fight in the Spanish-American War; scenes of President William McKinley and TR
in 1901; brief shot of TR, Lyman J. Gage, Philander C. Knox, Ethan Allen
Hitchcock, William R. Day, Elihu Root, Charles E. Smith, and James Wilson at
McKinley's funeral in Canton, Ohio, 1901; medium close shot of Dr. William C.
Gorgas, who had charge of sanitation during the building of the Panama Canal;
workers clearing the canal of yellow fever; TR's visit to Panama in 1906 and his
meeting with President Manuel Amador Guerrero; view of Colonel George W.
Goethals, chief engineer and first governor; sequences of machinery, huge
cranes, gigantic steam shovels, and men working on the actual construction of
the canal; various shots of Gamboa Dike, Miraflores locks, and Gaillard (Culebra)
Cut; launch of two barges in lock, boats, and battleships using the canal; final
sequence is of President Calvin Coolidge speaking.